I’m here to help you creatively navigate your inner and outer life by listening, being curious, helping you identify patterns, and exploring solutions that will bring you greater ease and fulfillment.

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The experience and process of therapy is uniquely your own, depending on what you're seeking and how you communicate and connect. Our work together can be focused on specific goals or it can be exploratory and non-linear. While talking will generally be a large part of therapy, we may also include writing, reflective exercises, meditation practices, story telling, role playing, therapeutic touch, and art making. As we work together, we'll discover what approaches work best for you. I offer remote therapy sessions to accommodate challenges you may have with coming to my offices for therapy in Santa Monica or therapy in West Hollywood.

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"There is no light without shadow and no psychic wholeness without imperfection..."- Carl Jung

THERAPEUTIC SERVICES

IN
SANTA MONICA & WEST HOLLYWOOD

Drawing by Louise Bourgeouis

Individual

Therapy

Gain insight by exploring your whole being. Find greater connection and congruence of mind, body, and actions. Empower yourself to embrace who you are. Learn to safely and effectively cope with difficult experiences and navigate important life transitions.

Photo by Martin Harvey

Couples & Family

Therapy

Understand and learn how to be with one another, explore & practice clear and kind ways to communicate and accept one another, and create enjoyable and fulfilling ways to relate and connect with one another.

FINDING A GOOD THERAPIST FOR YOU

SO MANY THERAPISTS IN LOS ANGELES… THERAPISTS IN SANTA MONICA... THERAPISTS IN WEST HOLLYWOOD — WHO’S RIGHT FOR YOU?

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Looking for the right fit between you and a therapist can be daunting. This is magnified when looking for a therapist in Los Angeles because there are so many choices. Below I’ll touch on some of the key questions and themes that frequently come up when individuals or couples start looking for a therapist here in Los Angeles. I hope this helps you find a really great therapist for you.

INTUITIVE CHOICE / PRACTICAL CHOICE: If you’re looking for a therapist in Los Angeles—or more specifically a therapist in Santa Monica, or a therapist in West Hollywood, where I am located—there are some practical questions and some feeling-based, intuitive questions that are worth considering.

On the intuitive side, the connection with your therapist is key. A therapist can be the best therapist for somebody else, but not for you. There is no fixed set of criteria that determines a good fit. Looking for a therapist is an opportunity to listen to yourself. When you first meet a therapist, notice how you feel, notice whether you feel a good connection. If you do feel a good connection, you’re on your way to finding a good therapist for you.

In order to support your finding the best therapist in Los Angeles—the best therapist for you—I suggest you take advantage of the free consultation phone sessions that many therapists offer. Try contacting several therapists and notice how you feel during and after your consultations. In itself, that might give you a lot to go on. And if as you're looking, you sense that we might be a good fit, I encourage you to contact me to set up a free consultation by phone.

There are also practical considerations when choosing a therapist. For example, location, price, and insurance:

It’s helpful if your therapist is close enough to you that you’ll find it possible to see your therapist in person on a regular basis. I practice therapy in Santa Monica and also offer therapy in West Hollywood. If either of these locations is convenient for you, at least in terms of location, I may be a good practical choice for you. I also see clients for therapy in Los Angeles—including Brentwood, Mar Vista, Venice, Playa Del Rey, Culver City, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood—and if you are in those or adjacent areas, my locations might also work well for you. Additionally, I offer therapy sessions remotely (therapy on the phone) to accommodate challenges with coming into the office.

​Therapists’ rates can vary significantly. It’s important to find someone who you can afford to see. In some cases, therapists will take insurance, and that may be very helpful, but be aware that depending on your insurance plan, there may be a limited number of visits that are possible. While I don’t take insurance, I am happy to give you a Superbill which you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. (Be aware, however, that many insurance companies will not pay for out of network therapists. If you think this might be an issue for you, I suggest you look at your insurance company’s website to find their list of in-network therapists.)

THERAPY IN WEST HOLLYWOOD: I have a great location in West Hollywood for therapy. Just off the beaten path, a little oasis that is both inviting and secure. If you’re wanting a therapist in West Hollywood, and I seem to be a good fit, I encourage you to contact me for a free phone consultation. But it’s important to remember that there are many good therapists in West Hollywood, and it’s worth taking the time to find a good fit for you.

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THERAPY IN SANTA MONICA: As a therapist in Santa Monica, I feel very fortunate to have a beautiful space in which to practice. Centrally located on 26th Street just north of Broadway, in Santa Monica, it’s a stone’s throw from Erewhon market and other easily accessible places where you can relax or find nourishment before or after our sessions. We’re also not too far from beautiful nature, as well. If you’re wanting a therapist in Santa Monica, I hope you’ll contact me to find out if we’re a good fit. But the same suggestion applies: take your time to find the therapist who is a good fit for you.

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THERAPY IN BEVERLY HILLS: While I do not have an office where I practice therapy in Beverly Hills, my West Hollywood therapy location and Santa Monica therapy location are both nearby. If you live in or near Beverly Hills, consider contacting me and other fine therapists in the area for a consultation.

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ONLINE THERAPY: Many people find that online therapy is an excellent way to meet their needs. I offer phone therapy and video therapy (Zoom), for those who have barriers to coming into an office and for those who prefer this medium. If you're anything like me, you might find yourself feeling skeptical about whether online therapy can be useful. In my experience, online therapy can be surprisingly effective. Not only do you avoid the commute, but you can remain in the comfort of your own home (if you feel safe where you live). You can also choose the degrees of contact you wish to have--therapy by phone is different from video therapy, for example. And for some people, this flexibility is genuinely useful.

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Searching for Online Therapy? My advice is try out a few therapists. See what works for you. Often the best online therapy is also going to be the best in-person therapy for you. Meaning that the connection with your therapist is really important.

What is the best online therapy for you? From my perspective, most of the same basic considerations in finding the best therapist for you apply. But in addition, it's important to find the mode of online therapy that suits you best. Some people don't feel connected with their therapist while looking at a screen. Some people feel more connected. Some enjoy the straightforward simplicity of therapy by phone, and others feel disconnection. If you're not sure, I encourage you to explore and find out what suits you best.

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Another crucial element to support online therapy is having a good internet connection. You can imagine what it would be like to be in therapy in person and suddenly have your therapist disappear. That's something like the feeling of suffering a bad internet connection. For that reason, phone therapy is often a good backup. Connection, in its many meanings, is the key.

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SO MANY KINDS OF THERAPY IN LOS ANGELES: Given the many choices for good therapists available to you, it’s also worth considering the kinds of therapy that interest you—do you prefer free-form exploration or highly-focused problem solving? Do you prefer a single approach or many? Do you prefer to address challenges, or opportunities, or some combination of the two? Do you prefer to stay primarily at a cognitive layer of your experience, or are you open to being with feeling, with images, with sensations in the body? Are you wanting more of a mindfulness approach to therapy, a developmental approach to therapy, a psychodynamic approach to therapy, a cognitive-behavioral approach to therapy, an approach that deeply values your creativity? Do one or many of these (or other) options for therapy excite you? Find someone who meets your interests. And if you’re not sure, ask. If you’re looking for a therapist in Los Angeles who considers these kinds of questions, we might just be a good fit…

Another important consideration is the approach of the therapist…

TRADITIONAL VS ECLECTIC APPROACHES: That’s the way some people think about this. This versus that. It needn’t be this way. Different approaches can work well at different times, and a one-size-fits-all therapist, even a great therapist, isn’t necessarily the best therapist to meet your needs.

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MY BACKGROUND WITH DIFFERENT APPROACHES: I am trained in traditional modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, narrative therapy, psychodynamic therapy, family systems, as well as trauma-informed therapies such as Seeking Safety and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I’m also a Registered Art Therapist (ATR). Increasingly I have pursued training in more somatically-oriented therapeutic practices such as Somatic Experiencing. I am also taking an introduction to Organic Intelligence with Steven Hoskinson, called The End of Trauma, and will be taking a series of therapeutic touch skills workshops with Kathy Kain in 2020. But the reality is that if you’re wanting to work with a therapist near you, it’s often less about the specific therapeutic modality and more about the feeling you have when working together. When I was looking for a psychotherapist near me, I wanted a therapist with a Jungian background, but the connection between me and the therapist was the key deciding factor. The best therapists near me were the ones I could feel a connection with.

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HOLISTIC THERAPY IN LOS ANGELES: Not all kinds of therapy are equally helpful for specific individuals. A single form of therapy, while potentially helpful, may not address the variety of layers that are present in some kinds of challenges. That’s why I like to take a holistic approach to therapy. But a holistic approach doesn’t mean careless or unthinking. It means treating you as a whole person, from start to finish, and discovering with you what kinds of therapy work best. Sometimes, that might not be therapy at all…

WELLNESS COACHING IN LOS ANGELES: It’s challenging to clearly differentiate wellness coaching from psychotherapy. Depending on the kind of therapy someone practices, coaching and therapy can be very similar or wildly different from each other. Ultimately, my hope is to offer what is helpful. Of course, I can’t know what will be helpful as we’re starting out. So we’ll try different approaches to therapy and see what feels right. Or, if you prefer, we can explore more of a coaching style, with very clear goals set at the beginning, and suggestions from me as we go along. Ultimately, we’d work together depends on what works for you and what feels right to both of us.

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TRAUMA: People come to see me for many different reasons. Sometimes the reasons are related to trauma. There is no one definition of trauma that is relevant for everyone, or that makes sense to everyone. One way to understand trauma is that it’s an experience of overwhelm that you weren’t able to digest at the time it was experienced—so it still has a detrimental or limiting effect on your life today. Good therapy for trauma will help you be with reality more fully, more joyfully, with greater freedom. However you define it, addressing trauma doesn’t only have to be challenging, it can also be an opportunity for deep and meaningful learning—learning that will help you be more yourself and experience more fulfilling connections with others and the world.

TRAUMA THERAPY IN SANTA MONICA AND WEST HOLLYWOOD: I lead trainings in trauma-informed care for the community health center I work for. But on a more personal level, I’ve been drawn to therapy that directly and intelligently addresses trauma with care. Sometimes, just diving into challenges makes sense, but often trauma acts as a kind of siren song, calling people deeper and deeper into suffering. For that reason, I am mindful of using a gradual approach whenever it seems helpful.

ANXIETY AND STRESS: Anxiety and stress are facts of life. The goal of therapy needn’t be to eliminate them. That would be impossible. Instead, the two goals of minimizing unnecessary stress and anxiety, and developing a friendly relationship with them, tend to be much more helpful. What do I mean by a friendly relationship with stress and anxiety? Feelings of stress and anxiety are your reaction to various internal and external circumstances. The point is that even if you don’t like them, they are your feelings, and it’s much healthier to develop a positive relationship rather than an adversarial relationship with yourself, and parts of yourself, including your feelings.

ANXIETY THERAPY IN WEST HOLLYWOOD AND SANTA MONICA: So many of the challenges people face day to day are related to anxiety and stress. If you’re wanting a therapist for anxiety or a psychotherapist for stress who is in Santa Monica or West Hollywood, there may be a number of good therapists who can provide counseling that will really support you. Sometimes talking about root problems, sometimes addressing current practical challenges, sometimes exploring through art or other forms of creativity, sometimes focusing on what you really care about, sometimes having support at the nervous system or somatic level, sometimes just having someone really listen to you—all of these and more can serve to reduce anxiety and help you develop a better relationship with any anxiety you may experience.

COUPLES COUNSELING IN LOS ANGELES: If you’re looking for a great couple’s therapist in Los Angeles, I highly recommend that you meet with potential therapists in person. That way, you and your partner can get a feel for the dynamics that emerge and make a decision together about how you’d like to move forward. For couple’s therapy to work, it’s important that both of you feel good about this decision. Fortunately, couples counseling in Los Angeles can be what you need it to be. If you live in Los Angeles, you have a wealth of potential therapists who can provide support. It’s worth taking your time to find the best therapist in Los Angeles not just for you, but for both of you.

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY IN LOS ANGELES: Similar to couples looking for therapy, individuals wanting therapy in Los Angeles often will do well to meet with several therapists before choosing a particular therapist. There are so many options here, it can feel challenging. But a little persistence in the beginning can have a hugely positive effect on your experience as well as the outcomes you’re likely to have. Individual therapy can be so profoundly healing that it’s worth that extra time and effort at the beginning to find the connection that really serves you.

TRUST AND BLIND TRUST: Trust is extremely important between therapist and client, but not blind trust. Blind trust can feel comforting for some time, but often a goal of therapy is to help you to be able to trust yourself. Trust in your therapist can be earned, and trust can be deep and ongoing, but it’s so much better if it’s not blind.

SUMMARY: CHOOSING FROM A SEA OF THERAPISTS— If you’re wanting therapy in Los Angeles, therapy in Santa Monica, or therapy in West Hollywood, there are a potentially dizzying number of therapists to choose from. If possible, ask friends who you trust for a referral to a good therapist. And also trust your own instincts. Does this therapist seem genuine and present? Is this therapist willing to acknowledge their own limitations? Do you feel a connection with this therapist and sense that you can be open and do real work together? Can you afford this therapist? Is this therapist located in a convenient location? These are some of the questions you can ask yourself as you come to a decision. Hopefully, as you make your decision, your cognitive choice and your feeling sense will mesh well with each other. And the good news is, if after a few sessions you’ve realized you’ve made a mistake, you can always change your mind…